I don't think that there are any major differences. The new edition adds half-baked grammatical explanations when applicable (instead of explaining what demonstrative and relative pronouns are, for example, it just says that it may be a difficult concept and to study their use in the Greek-to-English exercises -- and it doesn't even have an answer key! (but one is available at http://www.greekgeek.org, which I think is run by a Textkitter)) and chucks out some non-essential commentary. It strikes me as kind of lame, but it's the one I've got because I need to have a physical book.

The original version assumed that the student came from a background in Latin and a strong grammatical foundation; the new edition was issued in 1985 or thereabouts when it became clear that the typical student didn't.

It's kind of a crappy book, too; the paperback binding is very shoddy and I'm going to be missing more than a few pages by the end at the rate I'm going. It's not worth the $30, but if you're like me and absolutely need to have something to hold in your hands (printed-out PDF files don't count), it's the only way to go unless you look for an old copy from a used-book vendor.

screamadelica wrote:It's kind of a crappy book, too; the paperback binding is very shoddy and I'm going to be missing more than a few pages by the end at the rate I'm going.

Mine (paperback also) is still in fine condition, even after more than a year of not being too careful with it. No loose pages yet.

Hmm, maybe mine's just a bad copy. I don't know how to explain this, but I'l try:

You know how each leaf in the book is really just one sheet of paper folded in half? If you look at the binding, you'll see what I mean; there are thirteen folded-over stacks of paper between the cover (eight sheets for 16 leaves and 32 pages each), each one sewn together and glued to the spine at their fold. God, I wish I knew the terminology for this.

Open your book to pages xvi-xvii. This is the top sheet in the stack and you can see the stitching in the middle. For one with page numbers, see pp. 92-93. The next one comes at pp. 124-125 (32 pages for 16 leaves and 8 sheets of paper later). So now that we've got that out of the way...

The problem with my binding is that every 32 pages, the sewn-together unit starts to come free from the glue. I'm a fairly careful book-handler who cringes when people fold a book's front cover over to the back; this loosening (and eventual falling-out) comes just from regular page-turning, without pressing down to make it stay open or anything like that.

I guess I just got a poorly-glued copy. Unfortunately, it came from Amazon so I doubt I could get a replacement and I'm not shelling out another $30.

There is a local used bookstore which has been sporting a copy of Pharr for a few months. It seems to be in good shape, and I think it only costs 20$ or so. It certainly looked like a book I could keep in good shape for a long, grueling time. However, I have gone through the Pharr PDF, and I think I should leave it to somebody who has more need of it than me.

Hmm, maybe mine's just a bad copy. I don't know how to explain this, but I'l try:

You know how each leaf in the book is really just one sheet of paper folded in half?......

My book is not bound at all but just glued.
It has seen a lot of use but has held up surprisingly well.
It must be very good glue because I have had other boooks that were glued like that but they did not stand the test of time.

I've been extremely lucky about copies of Pharr it seems. I think it was the first Grk book I ever bought, when I found a used paperback copy for $4, which also had a tendency to open to a certain page, although it just happened to be the first page of the grammar section. I would have paid extra for that feature if I had known. But I just recently saw a hardcover copy of the unrevised version for $7, and I just couldn't pass it up. Anyway, I have to say that the "revisions" are all but useless in my opinion, and the unrevised version actually has *more* notes (usually literary) about the passages from the Iliad, which were removed to make space.